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Changing the Chinese pork sector disease status

19 October 2018

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The Veterinary Counsel, along with the Canadian Pork Council, suggest that the entire global pork sector has a vested interest in improving the health status of the Chinese swine herd and creating a biosecurity culture

Since August African Swine Fever has moved from the north end of China to the south end and the actual number of cases is suspected to be higher than what's being reported.

Dr Egan Brockhoff, the Veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council, says, as diseases continue to evolve and multiply in China, they pose a risk for North America and they pose a risk for the European Union countries so in an ideal world we would have China in a healthier position.

Dr Brockhoff says: "There's no question that, as China becomes a more complicated more sophisticated pork industry, as they continue to grow and concentrate livestock, the potential for disease, disease evolution and the movement of that disease from this increase in globalisation, with the movement of pork products and people, these things create risks for the North American swine sector and the global swine sector.

"We've got travellers entering Canada every day that have been in countries exposed to foreign animal diseases including African swine fever.

"We've got African swine fever positive pork products coming out of Russia and likely to be coming out of China.

"Those pork products, if they get moved around the world illegally, they present a significant risk to our very high health herd here in Canada for sure."

Dr Brockhoff says biosecurity is all about attitude.

According to him, it's not about policies or standard operating procedures or even about protocols. It's more about attitude and culture and if one wants a biosecurity culture, commitment is the key to achieving it.